Lawyer accused of defaming Uzodimma spends 25 days in detention

A former secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Owerri branch, Chinedu Agu, accused of defaming Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, has spent 25 days in prison custody as of Saturday, 18 October.

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This followed the refusal of the Federal High Court in Owerri to grant him bail on Thursday, 16 October, after his lawyer’s fresh application for bail.

Mr Agu’s lawyer, Stanley Imo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

Mr Imo told our reporter that a judge of the Federal High Court, Chituru Wigwe-Oreh, denied the “uncontested bail application” for Mr Agu, a lawyer.

He said the judge claimed there was no formal charge before her court; therefore, the incarcerated lawyer would have to wait until the police formally charged him.

“What we know is that it’s only the Federal High Court that has jurisdiction over this cybercrime matter. So even if the police decide to charge him in the next ten years, he would still be in prison.”

Previous bail

This newspaper earlier reported that the Federal High Court had granted bail to Mr Agu on 25 September.

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Mr Imo said that all the bail conditions were perfected, but they could not secure Mr Agụ’s release from the correctional facility.

He later explained that the bail granted to the lawyer by the Federal High Court was directed to the police in Imo, and not to the correctional facility.

Mr Imo said the Federal High Court ordered the police to release Mr Agu, unaware that a Magistrate Court in Owerri also ordered the lawyer’s remand in prison.

The police arraigned Mr Agu before a magistrate on 25 September. He was charged with criminal defamation, incitement, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr Agu was remanded in the Owerri correctional facility after the Chief Magistrate, Obinna Njemanze, declined jurisdiction to try the matter. He adjourned the case to 29 October.

Background

Mr Agu was arrested and detained on 23 September, after meeting with the police for a second time in one week over the alleged defamation.

He was released on bail on the first police invitation on 17 September.

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Mr Agu said his arrest and detention followed a petition allegedly filed by the Imo State Ministry of Information against him.

He said that his consistent calls for Governor Uzodimma to appoint the most qualified person as acting chief judge of Imo State and his other criticisms of the governor were the main reasons the administration was after him.